our bedroom

this is our room, for now.

there are a few things that i would still like to do to it such as soft and comfy rugs for either side of the bed, hang some more pictures on the walls and figure out something for the windows above our bed.

but for now, i love the colors and it is the one room in our new house that feels homey.

this little black table was left here in the house by the previous owners. i cleaned it off and i think it works beautifully with my beloved owl lamp.

this pretty dish was also left in the house. the kids and i have been collecting pieces of coral at the beach and putting them right here. the colors of the dish look like the colors of the ocean which is just right for me.

{twenty six}

fix what???

i walked down our hallway from our bedroom three days ago and and noticed a puddle the size of a small lake forming. i had a sinking feeling as standing water anywhere inside your house is not a good sign. we had known that the air conditioner would eventually give us problems since the previous owner had jerry-rigged the pipe draining the condensation out of the actual air conditioner into a shower behind the closet. that's right, he drilled a hole through the wall and into the shower so that the water could drain causing a lovely smell to emanate from that bathroom rendering it unable to be used by this sensitive smelling pregnant lady. but back to the puddle, we knew that eventually we would have to fix the air conditioner we were just hoping for a little more time.

but no dice.

tuesday i called matt's school to ask if they had a list of recommended companies and if they had one for air conditioning repairs. they did and the owners daughter had been one of matt's seniors the previous year. i called the company and her grandma answered. when she heard who my husband was she proceeded to tell me a story. she told me that her grand daughter really hadn't liked english all that much and fought mr. harrison tooth and nail at every turn. at the beginning of the summer she had to report to her college to take an assessment test to find out her placement in college english. her grandma told me that when she came out to the car after the test she said, "grandma! mr. harrison was right and he taught me everything that was on that test!!" i could tell the grandma was smiling, she said, "i just thought you would like to know that and i hope you will pass it on to your husband." not to get off topic, but can i just tell you that i hear those kinds of stories everywhere i go! i am so proud of my teacher husband. he always says he is doing something right if they think he is too hard on them while he is teaching them and then they love him when they get to college. that takes a confident person.

so back to the air conditioner, the service man showed up and looked it over. he determined that the pipes needed rerouting (DUH!) and that it needed a new pump to get the water through the pipe and outside. when he told me the price, i almost cried....$500! what??? granted that was for two maintenance calls a year and the price of everything else, but what? really?! after we just moved in? everyone told me things like this would happen....i really didn't believe them. i called matt to talk things over and we determined that it was something that really needed to be done and that we wanted it done right this time. no more jerry rigged bathrooms, no more stink and no more lake harrison in our hallway. it did mean tightening our belts and eating lots and lots of peanut butter and crackers. ;) just kidding! thankfully, my mama raised a pretty creative cook.

it took the service man almost all day to complete it, but he did and we are up and running again, sans leak and cool as cucumbers in this very hot harrison house.

{ twenty five }

the PARTAY!

saturday dawned clear, bright and angry.

just kidding.

only the birds were angry.

during my research i found a template that you could download, print out, color and tape onto the correct color balloons to make the characters. micah helped me saturday morning color and cut them out and then he told me how big i should blow the balloons up. i guess the birds are various sizes.

who knows ???

he also asked for the addition of white birds to the cupcake madness. and because i am a sucker for birthdays i willingly complied. they ended up being my favorites. i liked how the coconut made them look feathery. (is that a word? feathery?)

round two was completed much less frantically friday morning.

this is a picture of the one game that we played. the object of angry birds (or so i have been told by my 6 year old) is to throw the various birds with various abilities with sling shots. they hit different things and some how green pigs come into play along with a king pig on every level. the game i came up with was pretty simple (unlike the real thing). matt and i filled two buckets of water balloons the night before. we placed one at each end of the pool. the boys against the girls of course. than i put a bucket on either side of the pool and one in the middle that matt got to carry around. i made the buckets all worth different points. sides-5, matt's bucket 10 pts and the ones on the opposite ends of the pool from each team 20 pts. (the pts were meaningless, but i find kids love anything with points.) anway, i told them that matt was the king pig and that he could move freely around the pool....

than i whipped this little headband out from behind my back and placed it on this adorable man's head. he took it like a champ and a great sport! we all laughed and laughed and the kids thought it was hilarious to see tough mr. harrison with pig ears and a crown on his head.

a little lightness is good for the soul, right?

sadly, beatrix is terrified of balloons so she choose to stay safely on the side of the pool.

mostly on my friend anna's lap!

it turned out pretty good for a totally spontaneous game.

we didn't know what we were going to do with all of those water balloons.

everyone was ready to eat after the game. i made pretzel hot dogs.

they were a huge hit!

more pool time.

it was our first pool party after all.

another big grin.

i saw this face alot in three days!

ready to sing happy birthday and eat those angry birds and pigs.

sigh...

i love him.

present time...

his very good friend micah, gave our micah this t-shirt.

micah wore it for 24 hours. i washed it and he put it back on and than packed it in his backpack for after school today.

it was a successful gift.

our dear friend ashlea and her boyfriend gave him the plush white bird that now sleeps with him and has replaced toothbrush...i'm hoping that this is just temporary as i love toothbrush.

he's been in the family for way longer.

over all it was a fantastic day!

full of fun and squeals of laughter.

micah hugged me after everyone had left and said,

"mommy, thanks alot. it was really great!"

[micah snuggling with a friend of ours new baby after the party

i had to get this in.]

the presents...

after getting home from school the birthday boy opened his presents.

first up, a bat from matt and i.

and his second present was a t-ball stand.

which got put together instantly.

matt showing him the proper hand grip.

and micah trying it out for the first time.

the third present to be opened was from uncle mark, auntie katie, ellie and celia.

he was super excited about this one too.

it was a remote control car that looked like a killer whale.

the bonus about it was that it could go in the water or on the land.

***first request made to get into the pool.

fourth present to be opened was from grandma and grandpa harrison, autie vera and uncle steve, christian, antony and briana and auntie dajana and uncle peter and olivia.

this one left him speechless...

a brand new, very professional set of flippers and a snorkel and mask set.

***second request made to get into the pool.

GRANTED!

he and matt got in to try out the new gear and toy while i finished the birthday pizza and cake.

yeah, that's right.

i made cupcakes that morning for his class thinking it would be plenty of cake. but right before he went outside with matt, micah looked at me and asked, "mommy, where is my birthday cake?"

i looked at matt for help...who just looked at me, hid a smile and jumped in the pool.

so i baked a cake.

after baths and pizza the phone calls started to roll in. i snapped this picture of micah talking on the phone to grandma van cleave.

i thought it was hilarious!

present opening resumed. this one was from pastor shirley and jim.

bummer,

a water toy opened after the jump in the pool to test everything out was over.

and no buddy you may not get back into the pool.

$20 from grandma and grandpa van cleave!!!

"i'm rich!"

art supplies, puzzles and his very own calculator.

he loved it all.

thank goodness for mixes.

can i get an amen?!

3rd time using that candle in one day.

another satisfied face!

Happy 6th birthday Micah

you bring joy, creativity and smile after smile to our days.

the day you were born was like a light entering our lives and our home.

we love you!